Posts Tagged ‘South Sudan’

Newscast Media KHARTOUM—Thousands of people have fled renewed fighting in
Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, adding to hundreds of thousands
uprooted by conflict in the Darfur region this year, the UN said Thursday.

Clashes between government forces and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement-North (SPLM-N)in South Kordofan’s Rashad district displaced about 6,700
civilians, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its
weekly bulletin.

The UN has also received reports that an estimated 4,300 people fled their homes in
Blue Nile state because of combat between SPLM-N and government forces, OCHA
said. Almost three years of fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile had already
displaced or severely affected more than one million people.

Like the 11-year-old insurgency in western Sudan’s Darfur region, the Kordofan-Blue
Nile war has been fuelled by complaints among non-Arab groups of neglect and
discrimination by the Arab-dominated regime.

Khartoum and the SPLM-N on Tuesday began their latest round of African
Union-mediated talks aimed at reaching a peace deal.

The UN says a rising number of people in Sudan, 6.1 million, need humanitarian aid but
the percentage of funding obtained to help them has fallen in each of the past three
years.

More than 300,000 people have been uprooted by fighting in parts of Darfur since
February, OCHA said. The region has experienced its worst violence in a decade this
year.

Newscast Media KHARTOUM—Rebels fighting against the South Sudanese government
say that 700 men from government troops have defected with all their equipment and
joined them.

South Sudanese President Salva “Kiir’s army has suffered its biggest mass defection
since the current conflict began on 15th December,” rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Koang
said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Koang said the defectors “engineered an internal revolt, opened fire on loyalist soldiers
and in the process killed the commanding officer with the rank of colonel.”CONTINUE TO FULL ARTICLE>>

Newscast Media JUBA, Sudan—The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has
warned that 3.7 million South Sudanese are facing an acute or emergency food
security crisis, as an aftermath of the civil war than broke out in the new nation on
December 15, 2013. Up to seven million people are at risk of some level of food
insecurity in the world’s newest nation.

“South Sudan was already the scene of one of the world’s largest humanitarian
operations before the fighting began, and the situation is now deteriorating rapidly,”
said Sue Lautze, FAO Head of Office in South Sudan.

“Markets have collapsed, infrastructure is damaged, foreign traders have fled,
commodity supply corridors have been disrupted by violence, and rural populations are
unable to bring their crops, livestock and fish to market for sale.”
Over 870 000 South Sudanese have fled their homes in the last six weeks after
fighting broke out in Juba in December and spread across the eastern and central
parts of the country.

Displacement has severely disrupted the agricultural cycle and the prevailing situation
of severe food insecurity will be further exacerbated if farmers miss the main planting
season that begins in March. FAO plans to minimize the environmental impact of
improvised settlements, for example by introducing fuel-efficient stoves to reduce the
use of firewood and charcoal.

To date, FAO has received $4.25 million of the $77 million needed to implement the
emergency response plan.

Newscast Media KHARTOUM—Rebels fighting the government of South Sudan have
accused Juba of breaking a ceasefire, just over a week after the government
agreement was reached between the two sides.

On Monday, the rebels accused the forces royal to South Sudanese President Salva
Kiir of destroying the town of Leer.

Rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said government soldiers and fighters
allied with them “advanced on Leer town on February 1, destroying
everything on their path. (President Salva) Kiir’s forces burned down the
whole of Leer town and the entire surrounding villages.”

The rebel spokesman also held soldiers responsible for killing women, children, and
elderly people, saying that the operation in Leer, the home town of former Vice
President and rebel leader Riek Machar “has no strategic, operational, or tactical
importance.”

Meanwhile, officials have denied clashes in Leer and accused the rebels of carrying
out deadly attacks against civilians across the country.
Officials in Jonglei State’s Bor say the rebels there have caused destruction and killed
a number of people.

“They are not actually fighting the army; they are fighting the civilians,” said Major
Deng Maketh, a commander of a battalion in Mathaing, outside Bor.
South Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting since December 15, 2013, when the
country’s president accused Machar, his sacked deputy, of attempting to stage a
coup. The conflict turned into a war between Kiir’s Dinka tribe and Machar’s Nuer
ethnic group. Reports say as many as 10,000 people have lost their lives in the
violence. Add

Newscast Media KHARTOUM—In South Sudan the government and the rebels are
accusing each other of having violated the cease-fire. Many displaced persons have
little faith in the agreement anyway and are refusing to return home.

The cease-fire in South Sudan is fragile. The government and the rebels have blamed
each other for the violations and insist that they now intend to honor the agreement,
while the main victims, the refugees, have little hope that there will be peace.CONTINUE TO FULL STORY>>

Screen capture: South Sudanese rebels said they won't rest until Juba is captured.

Newscast Media KHARTOUM, Sudan—A peace accord was signed on Thursday, in
which the South Sudanese rebels led by Riek Machar and South Sudan’s President
Salva Kiir, agreed to a ceasefire a day before the African Union summit is to be held.

Yet according to the words of the rebels themselves, their goal is to continue fighting
until they capture the capital city Juba, and drive Salva Kiir out of the country.CONTINUE TO FULL STORY>>

Newscast Media KHARTOUM—The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs said Wednesday it was preparing for the arrival of some 10,000 South
Sudanese refugees expected to enter Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.

“Humanitarians in East Darfur are preparing to respond to a possible influx of an
estimated 10,000 people from South Sudan,” the weekly OCHA bulletin said.

Fighting erupted in the world’s youngest state on December 15 after Riek Machar,
who was sacked as South Sudan’s vice president in July, was accused of attempting
a coup against President Salva Kiir.

The United Nations said thousands of people have been killed and more than 120,000
forced to flee their homes in the conflict.

Clashes have been reported in half of South Sudan’s 10 states, with the violence
taking on an ethnic dimension and both sides reportedly committing atrocities.

Since 2003, Sudan’s troubled Darfur region has been the scene of an armed revolt
against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government aimed at securing a greater share
of resources and power. The UN says at least 300,000 people have since died in the
conflict.

Newscast Media JUBA—Fighting has continued in the South Sudan capital of Juba, with civilians among a rising death toll. Fears are high the violence may escalate in the wake of Sunday’s reported coup attempt. The government has said 10 key figures have been arrested, while former vice president Riek Machar – accused by President Salva Kiir of leading the attempt – is on the run.

“They are still looking for more … who are suspected of being behind the coup,” Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told the news agency AFP.

Gunfire and explosions were heard throughout Juba on Tuesday, and the city remains on lockdown and under curfew as its streets remain subject to fighting. Senior Ministry of Health official Makur Maker said at least 26 people, mostly soldiers but some civilians, have been killed. Minister of Information Michael Makuei Lueth told AFP the death toll in fact stood at 73.

Over 10,000 civilians – reported to be as high as 16,000 by some agencies – have taken refuge in United Nations compounds in Juba. In a phone conversation with Kiir on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the South Sudan president “to exercise real leadership at this critical moment, and to instill discipline in the ranks of the [Sudanese military] to stop this fighting among them.”

The United States has responded by ordering its non-essential officials to leave the young nation, and urged others there to depart immediately. Kiir had sacked long-time political rival Machar in July. He appeared on local television on Monday saying forces loyal to Machar had attacked an army base in an attempt to seize power.

The men hail from rival ethnic groups and had fought on different sides during Sudan’s civil war. Machar has said he will challenge for the leadership at the next elections in 2015, saying South Sudan could not survive “one man’s rule,” and it “cannot tolerate dictatorship.”

Most of the fighting is reported to be between the soldiers hailing from the Dinka tribe loyal to Kiir, and those of the Nuer tribe backing Machar.

Newscast Media KHARTOUM—Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ali Karti says that referring the controversial Abyei issue to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) could trigger a new war between Khartoum and Juba.

Sudan and South Sudan failed to meet a deadline set by the African Union (AU) to come to an agreement on the final status of Abyei, by December 5. According to the official SUNA news agency, the foreign minister said that a possible referral to the UNSC would “complicate” the issue and “threaten a new conflict”.

In October, the African Union Peace and Security Council said that if Khartoum and Juba failed to settle the issue, a referendum would be held. The referendum is to determine whether Abyei will join Sudan or South Sudan. Karti renewed Sudan’s demand that the difference between the two sides be settled within the African framework.

The oil-rich Abyei area is currently controlled by Ethiopian UN peacekeepers. The Misseriya tribe lives in the disputed area. Officials say that going ahead with the AU plan will only lead to violence.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011 as part of a 2005 peace treaty, which ended decades of war between the two countries. Despite the treaty, the African neighbors are still at loggerheads over oil revenues and border demarcation.http://newscastmedia.com/sudan.htm

Newscast Media KHARTOUM, Sudan—Despite accusing each other of continuing to fight, both Sudan and South Sudan have apparently agreed to a UN-imposed ceasefire. As a UN-imposed deadline for a ceasefire between Sudan and South Sudan passed Friday, both countries said they had agreed to cease hostilities following weeks of clashes that have threatened to bring the countries to war.

A standoff between opposing forces continues near the disputed border, but the governments Khartoum and Juba said they would seek peace. The UN threatened sanctions if fighting continued past the Friday deadline.

“There’s nothing happening, or let’s hope so,” said South Sudan’s army spokesman Philip Aguer. “The SPLA (army) is in a defensive position and have been told today by the commander in chief… not to move and to respect the ceasefire.”

Sudan said it was no longer engaging in conflicts across the border to South Sudan, but has said it will engage Southern troops on who are still in Sudan. The border between the two countries, however, remains disputed.

“Sudan has stopped fighting inside South Sudan in line with a UN resolution, but will continue battling Southern troops who remain on northern territory,” said Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Al-Obeid Meruh.

He cited this alleged presence on Sudanese territory as an indication that South Sudan was not holding up its end of the ceasefire bargain.

Newscast Media KHARTOUM, Sudan — A church elder has warned of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Abyei, a contested region lying between Sudan and South Sudan.

Abyei has been occupied by Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) since last May after months of delays to its referendum on self determination. The referendum was part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended decades of civil war in 2005.

It had been due to take place on the same day as South Sudan voted for independence in January last year. Now the disputed region is in political and military stalemate, and the vast majority of the 130,000 Ngok Dinka residents who fled the fighting last year are still unable to return to their homes.

Dr Zechariah Bol Deng, a senior elder of the Ngok Dinka tribe, said, “Currently, people are still suffering, there are thousands living under trees near the river, unable to return to their homes due to the presence of the SAF in Abyei, and with very limited resources.

“The presence of the troops means that people are afraid to return to Abyei, and their situation is getting more and more desperate.

“Children are dying of preventable diseases and only a limited number of relief agencies are able to reach them.”

Forces from the SAF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army were both due to leave the region by last September. While the SPLA has fully withdrawn, SAF troops have yet to do so.

“It is even more unacceptable that over 100,000 people continue to eke out an existence in such lamentable conditions due to this occupation.

“The international community must press the Government of Sudan to honor the agreement to withdraw from Abyei and allow the postponed referendum to take place.”

A UN interim security force has been sent to Abyei tasked with restoring peace. However Mr Thomas said it would have to become “more proactive” in securing peace in the area before the people of Abyei could return to their homes. http://www.newscastmedia.com/sudan2.html